I have been an active gardener in the Casper area now for over 30 years. Back when I first started no one
could tell a beginner what kind of carrots or tomatoes grew best here. Because I have been taking notes all these years, you
can find out what plants do best in Wyoming on the 'vegetable varieties' pages, whose links are above.

Along with my partners Mark McAtee and Paul Combe I have done a lot of experimenting and research. You
can find the results of this activity on these many pages. Please click on the links and start viewing our work. I think you will
find that there is a huge amount of information available here for you. Enjoy!

Regular readers know that I keep a degree-day chart each year. I have chosen the
base temperature of 50 degrees (F.) because I don't think plants do much growing below
that temperature.

Degree days are the cumulative average temperatures above the
set base (50 in this case). I always begin counting degree days on
May 25, Casper's last average day of frost. If on May 25 the average
temperature was 62 degrees, that would be 12 degrees above 50 and
the cumulative total would be 12. If on May 26 the average
temperature was 64 degrees, that is 14 degrees above 50 . I add
that 14 to the 12 I already have, and the degree days for May 26
would be 26. Adding the degrees above the base together is what
makes degree-days cumulative.

Here is the 2018 degree-day chart.

MAY

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

JUNE 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

HIGH

38

40

44

62

66

75

57

47

61

67

71

72

79

78

76

79

82

84

60

LOW

29

29

28

37

37

31

44

40

37

35

40

42

42

47

48

47

42

51

33

AVER. 2019

33.5

34.5

35.5

49.5

51.5

52.5

50.5

43.5

49

51

55.5

57

60.5

62.5

62

63

62

67.5

46.5

DD (50)

1.5

4

4.5

-2.0

-3.0

-2.0

3.5

10.5

21

33.5

45.5

58.5

70.5

88

84.5

JUNE

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

HIGH

65

73

69

77

83

76

78

74

73

71

80

81

66

66

69

76

84

LOW

27

25

37

34

44

50

46

50

52

48

47

39

42

36

45

46

39

AVER. 2019

45

49

53

55.5

63.5

63

62

62

62.5

59.5

63.5

59.5

54

51

57

61

61.5

DD (50)

79.5

78.5

81.5

87

100.5

113.5

125.5

137.5

150

159.5

173

182.5

186.5

187.5

194.5

205.5

217

JUNE

26

27

28

29

30

JULY 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

HIGH

87

89

89

90

83

87

71

81

82

80

83

90

87

86

78

84

LOW

41

43

43

52

55

52

50

48

50

46

42

44

53

61

49

45

AVER. 2019

64

65.5

65.5

71

69

69.5

70.5

64.5

66

63

62.5

67

70

73.5

63.5

64.5

DD (50)

231

246.5

262

283

302

321.5

342

356.5

372.5

385.5

398

415

435

458.5

472

486.5

JULY

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

HIGH

95

92

96

92

93

93

95

97

84

83

90

94

96

93

93

87

LOW

54

52

56

56

49

55

54

53

56

50

55

54

57

57

54

60

AVER. 2019

74.5

72

76

74

71

74

74.5

75

70

66.5

72.5

74

76.5

75

73.5

73.5

DD (50)

511

533

559

583

604

628

652.5

677.5

697.5

714

736.5

760.5

787

812

835.5

859

JULY

28

29

30

31

AUG 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

HIGH

90

91

98

97

84

93

94

96

92

97

92

87

86

83

LOW

55

47

60

53

58

54

51

53

59

52

54

57

56

51

AVER. 2019

72.5

69

79

75

73

73.5

72.5

74.5

75.5

74.5

73

73.5

73

71.5

DD (50)

881.5

900.5

929.5

954.5

977.5

1001

1023.5

1048

1073.5

1098

1121

1144.5

1167.5

1189

AUGUST

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

HIGH

87

86

83

90

87

LOW

54

45

47

49

52

AVER. 2019

70.5

65.5

65

69.5

69.5

DD (50)

1209.5

1225

1240

1259.5

1279

- - This year's Degree Days compared to past years - -

Degree Days Through June 30

Through July 15

Through July 31

Through August 15

Through August 31

Through Sept. 19

ThisPeriod

RunningTotal

ThisPeriod

RunningTotal

ThisPeriod

RunningTotal

ThisPeriod

RunningTotal

ThisPeriod

RunningTotal

ThisPeriod

SeasonTotal

2019

302.5

302.5

280.5

583

371.5

954.5

324.5

1279

2018

505.5

505.5

351.5

857

314

1171

303

1474

251

1725

286.5

2011.5

2017

350.5

350.5

403.5

754

373

1127

234.5

1361.5

302.5

1664

252

1916

2016

523.5

523.5

272

795.5

387

1182.5

308

1490.5

209

1699.5

182.5

1882

2015

529

529

282.5

811.5

286

1097.5

311.5

1409

254.5

1663.5

279

1942.5

2014

390

390

299

689

380

1069

312.5

1381.5

243.5

1625

167

1792

2013

524.5

524.5

339

863.5

317

1180.5

426.5

1607

381.5

1988.5

315.5

2304

2012

558

558

362

920

416

1336

314.5

1650.5

317

1967.5

243

2210.5

2011

322.5

322.5

325.5

648

385.5

1033.5

305

1338.5

367

1705.5

195

1900.5

2010

364

364

228

592

264

856

394.5

1250.5

322

1572.5

175

1747.5

2009

327

327

258.5

585.5

256

841.5

267

1108.5

216

1324.5

254.5

1579

2008

292.5

292.5

281

573.5

387

960.5

289

1249.5

282.5

1532

96

1628

2007

431.5

431.5

348.5

780

400.5

1180.5

344.5

1525

278.5

1803.5

277.5

2081

2006

567.5

567.5

332.5

900

426.5

1326.5

308.5

1635

294.5

1929.5

131.5

2061

2005

333.5

333.5

297

630.5

360

990.5

256.5

1247

240

1487

242.5

1729.5

2004

314

314

270

584

269

853

275.5

1128.5

197.5

1326

246

1572

2003

401.5

401.5

307.5

709

399

1108

388

1496

317.5

1813.5

146.5

1960

2002

528

528

360

888

364

1252

278

1530

262

1792

248

2040

July 1, 2019

Our temperatures are warming up, finally. And that heat is benefitting us. We
have been eating lettuce, broccoli, and peas for a while now. Tomatoes are laying
on fruit. In bloom are beans, pepper, tomatoes and wife Judy's flowers from which
she creates organic dyes. The carrots have been thinned well and will produce something
for us to eat on the next and final thinning. Cucumbers, melons, and squash are laying
out vines which we will trellise. So, even though this season has been cool so far,
we got plenty of moisture which helped the gardens reach this developing phase.

July 1, 2019

This growing season, so far, is the second coolest season since I started tracking temperatures.
This implications are that the cooler season crops in your garden will be doing better than the
warm season crops. By cooler season crops I mean: Radish, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrots, and Lettuce.
Warm season crops include: Corn, Squash, Cucumber.

June 24, 2019

I always look carefully at seasonal temperatures around May 25 because that is the average last day
of frost. It was obvious then that our temperatures were still way to cold to plant warmer weather
plants (I already had planted peas, lettuce, broccoli, and cabbage.)

So I waited to begin. I knew that my usually reliable indicator was stunted and slow this year.

My Spirea bush, and other spirea bushes nearby and ususally dependable planting indicators. But,
instead they were holding back their blossoms. They did not bloom this year until June 6th, at the
earliest. My own bush waited until June 9th. So I took some risk putting out Tomatoes and Peppers
between June 3rd and June 5th. In Casper temperatures plunged again and the night temperatures were
below 40 degrees farenheit from June 8 through June 12, slipping to to 27 degrees on June 9th and
25 degrees on June 10th.

My tomatoes are doing well, all things considered. Here is a productivity chart for them, as of today.

Tomato Productivity - June 24, 2019

Tomato Name and #

Number of Flowers (1 point per blossom)

Points for Fruit (2 points per tomato)

Total Points

.

Tomato Name and #

Number of Flowers (1 point per blossom)

Points for Fruit (2 points per tomato)

Total Points

Buffalo Steak 1-1

1

0

1

.

Tonopah 1-2

4

4

8

Applause 1-3

3

0

3

.

Sun Sugar 1-4

4

18

22

Black Krim 2-1

6

0

6

.

Atlas 2-2

3

0

3

Tomande 2-3

12

0

12

.

Applause 2-4

4

0

4

Bush Beefsteak 3-1

0

0

0

.

Goliath Prime 3-2

0

0

0

Black Krim 3-3

8

6

14

.

Goliath Giant 3-4

9

4

13

Bush Beefsteak 4-1

8

0

8

.

Applause 4-2

12

0

12

Big Mama 4-3

13

0

13

.

Tonopah 4-4

4

0

4

Sun Sugar 5-1

40

0

40

.

Black Krim 5-2

14

0

14

Bush Beefsteak 5-3

11

0

11

.

Tomande 5-4

24

0

24

Big Mama 6-1

9

4

13

.

Applause 6-2

20

2

22

Bush Beefsteak 6-3

4

0

4

.

Buffalo Steak 6-4

15

2

17

Goliath Prime 7-1

6

4

10

.

Buffalo Steak 7-2

18

0

18

Goliath Giant 7-3

11

0

11

.

Atlas 7-4

14

0

14

Here is a sorting for the average plant productivity score for all the varieties listed above.

Each Spring I do a count of how many times it has snowed on the Daffodils. Wyoming
is lousy country for daffodils because of our late snows. This Spring it snowed upon
the Daffodils at least six times as the photos above partially reveal.

Below is a photo of my Spirea Bush taken on May 21, 2019.

In a typical Spring I can use my Spirea, and others, as faithful predictors of when
to set out Tomato plants. Not this Spring! Their growth and development has been
stunted by the cold.

About the Average Last Day of Frost:
This date, for Casper, Wyoming is May 25. Now that this milestone is past it
should be safe to plant Tomato plants. I have 12 of the 28 plants I intend to set
out out there in our rainy and cold environment. I also have planted Peas, Lettuce, and
Carrots. I am still not setting out my Peppers, Beans, or Cucumbers. I like to plant
the last two at the same time. But soil temperatures are just not warm enough yet.

Between Seasons 2018-19

February 10, 2019

3 Factors for Gardening Success

#3...Climate Control

Birds do it, bees do it, farmers do it in a big way.

WINDBREAKS

CONTOUR PLOWING

IRRIGATION

Farmers all over the world modify the climate in which they grow crops. Among the methods
they use are windbreaks, countour plowing and irrigation. They know, as we should know, that
climate modification is necessary.

The Wind Kills

We once had an 80 mph wind gust the day after we set out our tomatoes. That stripped
all the leaves off all of the plants. That inspired us to begin using tubes to keep the wind off.
All but one of the tomato plants put on new leaves and survived. We found that there are multiple
advantages to using thick-walled plastic tubing. It keeps the wind off the tender young plant that
is going through root shock. If pushed down into the ground, it prevents cut worms from attacking.

Tubes provide thermal mass, and radiate heat back to the plant during the evening.
They allow just enough wind to strike the plant to allow it to wiggle. This makes the stem
stronger. When the plant does grow up out of the tube it is ready to handle the wind.

We use tubes for Tomato, Pepper, Cucumber, and Bean. The tender sprouts of the last two attract
a lot of attention from the beetles. Tubes provide a barrier to the bugs. In the case of Cucumber,
we sometimes tie a netting over the tube. When the plant grows large enough to touch the netting, it is
also strong enough to withstand beetle attack, and we remove the netting.

Fences and wind barriers of all kinds are used in Wyoming gardens, and you should seriously
consider using some in your garden. There are currently on the market products, such as 'Wall of Water' that
shield young tomato plants from wind and store energy from the sun and radiate that heat back to the plants
in the day. Bill Simpson used to build a long temporary wall (24" to 30" of stacked concrete blocks.
Then he would build short stub walls coming off the long wall at 90 degrees. The areas between the short
walls was where he planted his tomato plants. His plants got to be huge. The concrete blocks radiated
a lot of thermal energy back to his tomatoes at night.

Watering

We have found that tubes also help the watering process. When it is super hot outside, we
like to water every other day. But tomatoes love water (they also love good drainage...go figure). When
I water the Tomatoes and Peppers I simply fill the tubes full of water (when the plants are big and flowering).
The water seeps slowly into the soil for a deep watering, which is what I want. But beware. Do not do
this early in the season. I killed some tomato plants one season by watering deeply this way too early.
I would not water this way unless the plant is at least twice as high as when I set it out, and the
temperatures are very warm.

The time to plan how you are going to water your garden is before you plant. Where exactly
will the hose end up when you drag it through your beds? Will you need to drive stakes for hose control?

Please click on the links below to take you to other climate-related pages.

I have placed all of my orders for seeds and plants for the 2019 gardening season. I have cut
back the number of tomato plants I will put in. I will also be growing an experimental bed
this year featuring the 3 Sisters (corn, beans, squash) that native americans used to plant.

January 21, 2019

3 Factors for Gardening Success

#2...Soils

Clay soils, in particular, will compact through the process of watering. So even if
you never trod on tilled soil you can be compacting it every time you water. Always take the
opportunity to mix some humus in as you till, and to mix it into the soil surrounding trees
and bushes.Humus is available in the forms of peat moss, manure, and compost. Peat can
be purchased by the bag, or by the bale. It comes to us mostly from Canada It is dug there from
old lake beds, and contains the plant remains of hundreds, even thousands of years of lake-plant
growth. Peat moss provides great humus that is slightly acidic. That acidity will neutralize some
of the alkali in our (Wyoming) soils.

Manures have different degrees of 'hotness', or concentrations of nitrogen. Sheep manure
is the hottest available to Casper residents. To obtain some you may have to drive out into the
countryside to ranches that feed herds of sheep over the winter. Never use fresh sheep manure.
Use only aged sheep manure, and use it sparingly. Even aged sheep manure can burn plants if it
is too concentrated.

Horse manure is 'hotter' than cow manure, and has fewer active seeds. Use manure
that has aged in a pile for a least a year, as that composting tends to kill a lot of seeds
in the manure.

Tiny grains of clay in freshly tilled soil are widely separated. During compaction
there is less and less space between them. Because they are very thin they orient horizontally
during compaction, forming a barrier that is virtually impossible for roots to penetrate.

Sandy soil also presents problems. Think humus and manure...or organics. Sandy
soil is severly lacking in organics. Till some in every year until you get a more acceptable soil mix.

By now you happily situated in your new home in Minnesota, far away from Wyoming. I will,
of course, miss you a lot.

But you will have more time and opportunity to do some gardening this coming season. This
note is to help you get sorted. Now is the time of year to start thinking about what kind of, and
how much gardening you will want to be doing come August. It is your call.

Of the three main factors in gardening success I believe that Selection is the most important (over
climate and soil). This is simply because selecting the very best varieties for your location will
make up for many deficiencies in climate and soil.

By now I have already
received three seed catalogs and many more are yet to come. I will be reading all of them
carefully because they contain a ton of information, both positive and negative.
The seed (and plant) catalog business is an old one in the United States.
The oldest company that I know about is Stark Brothers in SouthEast Missouri. It was founded by old
General Stark from the Revolutionary War. It is still a family business and many consider Stark
to be THE experts in fruit trees and bushes. They developed the Delicious Apples, fruit trees with
many more nodes than normal (giving heavy yeilds), and a revolutionary potting method for trees
that spurs roots to grow extra vigorously once the tree is planted. It is such an old company that
it can quite rightly claim to have been the chief backer of Luther Burbank (and the inheritor of
his work and methods).

As an old hand gardener (with over 40 years devoted to the craft) I pick up on things in catalogs
that a newby might miss. For instance, A seed catalog might boast of a pepper that grows to be
over 4 inches big. That is probably true. The catalogs do not usually lie. But what the catalog
did not say was that the pepper has thick walls. I, for one, prefer that there be some pepper in
my pepper, not just a thin will with skin on it. When a catalog describes a variety as 'vigorous'
that is fine, but what I want to read is the word PRODUCTIVE in the description. And there are
mysteries in catalogs. One mystery I, and old gardening partner Mark McAtee, have been pursuing
is the Tomato: Black Krim. Most catalogs list this variety (an heirloom from Russia) as being
an 80 day plant (infering that in 80 days after set out you start getting fruit). But a few list
this variety as 69 days. That is a big difference. After much consideration, I have recently
concluded that both numbers are correct...and that is based upon the conclusion that there are
two sub-varieties of Black Krim and that the catalogs are selling the variety they have in their
possession.

I have developed my one third rule for gardening in Wyoming (and this
could apply to some degree to Minnesota). Basically, you will get 1/3 less from a garden in
Wyoming than you will get from one in Iowa, perhaps even less. The fruit that you get will be
1/3 smaller, or the volume of production will be 1/3 less.

When I apply the 1/3 rule to climate I get results that are sobering. I calculate that here in
Casper our growing season is 114 days. But those 114 days are not comperable to the same number
of growing days in Iowa. Many of our nights dip well below 50 degrees farenheit. To get an
equivalent I multiply 114 by 2 and get 228. Then I divide by three and I get 76. Thus, in Casper we
have a growing season of 76 Iowa-days. That has serious implications when you are selecting varieties
to plant in you garden. You will want to plant very short-season varieties.

Below are links to my vegetable variety pages. There are many tables.
In the first column of these tables are four-letter links followed by numbers. The four
letters are shorthand links to the sites of seed suppliers and the numbers are the
days-to-maturity that each seed provider estimates for that variety. Thus, 'Burp65' is
a link to the Burpee seed site and 65 would be the days-to-maturity that Burpee estimates
for the particular variety in question. Use these links. I have done a lot of leg work for you.